UX Carrer
Research project
Discovering how many Brazilians are internationalising their UX careers.
Time
Role
Tools
Aug. 2023 – Dez. 2024
Briefing, Research and discovery process, User Survey, User Interview, Personas and Data Compilation.
Notion, Miro, Figma, Survey Monkey, Excel and Google Meet
Many Brazilians have the dream of having an international carrer, but there are many uncertainties and assumptions in the minds of those who have this desire
Some find it too difficult, others think it will take luck and end up idealizing a perfect and unattainable life abroad. How to get an international career in UxDesign?
Desk Reseach:
We tried to understand who the Brazilian professionals are who are looking to migrate their careers to UX, where they come from, what their expectations are, the difficulties they have faced and what their objectives are in living abroad.
Desk Research helped us create three profiles of people interested in developing careers abroad:
Profile 1 – The Dreamer:
Profile 2 – The preparation:
Profile 3 – Emily in Paris:
Wishes to start a career in UX abroad, but doesn’t know how yet.
Already participates in selection processes of companies abroad, but still has some doubts about.
Already works as a UX Designer abroad (living in the country or remotely). Highlights: Advanced English, networking and the use of Linkedin.
Quantitative Research:
The sample size was defined based on the quantity of users who call themselves professionals in careers related to UX Design on Linkedin in Brazil. Based on this survey, we used SurveyMonkey’s calculator to define the sample size we would need for this research.
The full results of the Quantitative Survey are available on the following link (in Portuguese):
Qualitative Research:
For this process, we set specific objectives for profiles 1 and 2 and for profile 3.We had 25 interviewees and the help of mentors in 3 interviews. They were Felipe Gonça, Rick Benetti and Cricia Silva.
Research Objectives:
Profile 1 and 2:
- To understand the behaviour and motivations of people who want to have an International Career;
Map the career goals of UX Designers who want to live abroad. - To understand the main pains of UX professionals who seek an international career;
- To cross-reference data between the profiles found in the clipping, what they are planning, their thoughts and expectations, the profile of those who will migrate and the ones who already live abroad, to try to bring more of the reality, more truth and real stories to these people.
Profile 3:
- To understand the behaviours and decisions of Designers who are already working outside of Brazil;
- Describe their expectations vs. reality about the international career;
- Understand which particularities of their journeys made a difference to their careers and why;
Mapping the journeys.
The results of the survey are available at this link (in Portuguese):
Personas:
Jaqueline Macedo
UX/UI Jr (Product Designer)
25 years old
Higher Education completed
Intermediate English
Looking for an opportunity – International career: 0%

Goals:
Jaqueline is looking for an opportunity as a UX Designer abroad, however, She does not know where to seek information about vacancies, documentation and qualifications required for this.
Pains:
- Becoming fluent in English;
- Not knowing where to start researching;
- Imposter syndrome;
- Lack of money to travel;
- Little experience in the area
Rafael Alves
Product Designer
29 years old
Higher Education completed
Advanced English
One foot in Brazil and the other outside – Â Career: 40%
Goals:
Rafael is already applying for jobs outside of Brazil and even does some freelance work for foreign companies hoping that he will get the work visa and the expected opportunity at any moment.
Pains:
- Not being able to express himself well in the language during interviews / negotiations;
- Worries about not getting a job for being an immigrant;
- Not having a financial plan.
Gabriela Silva
Senior Product Designer
32 years old
Higher Education completed
Earns between R$7.000 and R$10.000
Fluent English
Already living outside Brazil – International career: 100%.
Goals:
Gabriela lives in Portugal and migrated with a work visa. She has relatives and friends who live outside Brazil as well.
She considers planning and fluency in the local language the most important thing to work abroad. She has a background is graphic design, area in which she worked for more than 5 years.
Pains:
- Cultural adaptation difficulty;
- Tax bureaucracy for foreign resident;
- Language barriers;
- Professional qualification;
- Visa/ Citizenship bureaucracy;
- Tax bureaucracy and documentation for a Brazilian living abroad.
Mapping Journey:
With the in-depth research carried out, we mapped the journey of each of the profiles and sought to connect the feelings and actions at each point and understand how they relate to each other.
What did we discover?
Why an international career?
Most who want or got a job abroad have had some experience of tourism or exchange programs abroad or/and were influenced by friends who got a job abroad. This experience of travelling to know the country before, meeting people and the local culture makes it easier to migrate to that country.
About expected difficulties:
believed that they will have many difficulties during the process
said that the difficulties were much less than expected. One part was about housing and financial stability and another about day-to-day things like local laws, mobility and neighborhood.
The choice of country:
most choose a country because they think there is greater design maturity and higher salaries like the United States and Australia for example.
said that the migration is more related to the company itself than to the country, just like salaries.
About losses:
Support network they have in Brazil, formed by family and friends;
Particularities that made a difference to the career:
- Advanced English;
- Student visa;
- Knowing people in the country;
- Having visited the country before;
- European citizenship;
- Having advanced experiences in UX, data, statistics, among others;
- Plan financially;
- Have a reservation for at least 6 months in the new country;
- Researching a lot beforehand the values of rents, supermarkets and bureaucracies.
Motivational Clowd:
Lessons learned:
During the process I developed my skills in user recruitment and interview management;
Conducting an interview;
Compile interview data.
Points to be explored further in this project or in a future version:
We spent about 6 months on this topic, because we decided from the beginning to do it in our own time, choosing which method to use and having time to learn and to mature the discoveries. In the end, we learned a lot from the whole process and from the people we interviewed. We discovered how each story is so particular and that, as everyone knows, there is no magic formula, but there are ways of pulling strings to make things happen.